Though Joe Satriani's 2018 G3 Tour, with John Petrucci and Phil Collen, only started two weeks ago, it has already seen a couple of all-star jams for the ages.
Last week, at the Fox Theater in Oakland, the trio was joined by Journey's Neal Schon for a rendition of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." Those who attended the G3 show at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles Friday night hoping to see another star-studded jam certainly did not come away disappointed.
Satriani, Petrucci and Collen were joined onstage by Glenn Hughes and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith for a searing version of Deep Purple's "Highway Star." You can see some fan-filmed footage of the performance above.
Seeing Hughes and Smith rocking out with Satriani is not a huge surprise, seeing as they served as the backing band—Hughes on bass, Smith on drums—on Satriani's new album, What Happens Next. The guitarist hand-picked the duo specifically to help him move away from the more progressive, twisty elements of his recent albums and toward a more basic, hard-rock sound.
“I said to Chad in an early text, ‘No odd time signatures, no progressive stuff, pure rock and soul,’" Satriani said. "The last two records really showed that I was enjoying playing with progressive elements, and when I reached the end of Shockwave Supernova, I said, ‘I think I’ve done it. For some reason, I don’t feel like going back over that anymore’.”
Be sure to look for more coverage of Satriani and What Happens Next in the brand-new, March 2018 issue of Guitar World!
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